Copyright: concept, duration, protection and protection. Subjects and objects of copyright

Copyright - a set of rights, both property and non-property (they are also called spiritual), belonging to a person (the author, that is, an individual) who created his own creative work of literature, science or art.

Only in the early 70-ies economic aspects of this law began to be discussed in science. So far, copyright does not have the same meaning for economists as the patent system has. Therefore, there is often an underestimation of the importance of such protection from an economic point of view.

One of the main reasons for this situation is that initially the copyright and the idea of their protection developed mainly as a legal and social system. But as humanity evolved and the importance of information increased, copyright, as part of intellectual property, is gradually becoming the most important intangible economic asset of the information society. Today, it is no longer considered exclusively a category of law, but is viewed as an integral part of the assets of firms and the wealth of countries. The concept of copyright serves as the basis for the development of various industries, contributes to the growth of value added, foreign trade and jobs. According to some sources, the share of industry based on it in the world economy at the beginning of the millennium was about 7.3% (about 2.2 trillion dollars). At the same time, the growth in these areas is an average of 5% per year, that is, faster than the average growth of the entire economy of the planet.

Copyright sources

The growth of the value of this right was also the result of the expansion of the environment in which it operates. In 1996, two documents were recorded in international copyright: two WIPO Internet Treaties (the Performances and Phonograms Treaty and the Copyright Treaty) were adopted, and then, with the help of the national legislation of the respective countries, it was applied to economic transactions in various computer Digital networks. This gave impetus to interaction and exchange of experience, strengthening the economic effect of this type of law. There are also local sources of copyright. The development of technology, in addition, has allowed the introduction of new forms of management, which are less expensive and more accurate, with the help of special technical measures for protection. Thanks to such technologies sales of copyrighted products increased.

It has become an integral part of everyday life, and today we are working with forms of creativity that twenty years ago it was difficult even to imagine. Products that are protected by copyright, today includes a large part of the business.

Categories of rights

Copyright and their objects are divided into several categories:

- property and non- property rights ;

- the rights are exclusive and nonexclusive.

A person who has copyrights to an object that is exclusive, has sole right to use it and may prohibit the use of this object by third parties. Exclusive rights to the work arise when the author did not transfer them (that is, did not conclude an agreement on the transfer of exclusive rights) to others.

Non-exclusive law means that the person possessing it can use the object of law created by the owner of exclusive rights, on an equal basis with him and other persons authorized to use it in the same way. Non-exclusive rights arise when a copyright contract is created, unless otherwise explicitly provided in it.

Non-property rights are personal rights (they can not be performed with operations like property: buy, sell, transfer, donate, inherit, etc.).

Registration and protection of copyright

This right is one of the ways to protect intellectual property, that is , it represents the totality of the norms of law, relations for the creation and use of various works of culture, science and art.

The term of copyright is throughout the life of the author, and also for 70 years immediately after his death. The right to a name, to the right of authorship and to the reputation of the creator of the work is indefinitely protected.

Such registration exists to show that at its moment the object of law exists objectively. This can be useful for protecting copyright in a collision of interests. In all countries covered by the Berne Convention on Copyright, rights to objects created by Russian citizens are protected, regardless of whether they were registered or from their place of registration.

International copyright, as well as the law on copyright of the Russian Federation, does not require its registration for protection. However, if you want to show that the object at the time of registration existed objectively, you can register these legal relations in the Russian copyright society. If copyrights are violated, the case must be considered in the country where the violation occurred.

Subjects of copyright

Subjects are:

1) the author himself;

2) the successors of the author, that is, the persons to whom copyright has transferred from him on certain legal grounds (contract, inheritance), in particular the publisher of the work;

3) translator (for own translation).

There is a difference between the right of the author himself and his successors - the right of the first is unlimited, and for the second it is limited to a certain period.

Objects of copyright

On the basis of Article 1259 of the Civil Code of our state, objects in relation to which copyright is applied in Russia are works of literature, science and art, regardless of their purpose, as well as merits and forms of expression.

These include:

• Derivative works, that is, processing another product;
• Composite, which are the result of exactly creative work in the arrangement or selection of materials.

Copyright in Russia has both published and unpublished works, expressed in any objective form, including oral and written (for example, in the form of public performance, pronunciation, etc.), in the form of images, video and audio, as well as in volume -dimensional form.

Characteristics of objects

It should be noted at the same time that the objects of this right have specific features:

• Creative character of creation;
• Objective form of its expression.

That is, the object should be created precisely as a result of creative work and fixed on some material carrier (in the form of an image, written, video recording or sound recording, volumetric-spatial) or expressed in oral form, but necessarily in the form of a public speech.

That is, for example, created as a result of the author's creative work, water patterns that can be observed during the work of a fountain will not be subject to copyright. Only the fountain itself is guarded, because it has a three-dimensional objective form (stone, metal), and water patterns do not.

Another example: simply the technical collection of materials is not the result of creative work, so its result is not considered an object of this type of law. Music without copyright is, for example, collections of the best songs of a particular group.

Types of objects

So, on the basis of Article 1259 of the Civil Code of our country, the following are considered objects of copyright:

• Works of literature;
• Musical dramatic, dramatic and scripted works;
• Pantomimes and choreographic productions;
• Musical works, both with text and without it;
• Audiovisual;
• Works of sculpture, painting, design, graphics, comics, graphic stories and other works of fine art;
• Objects of scenographic and arts and crafts;
• Works of town planning, architecture, landscape art, which include drawings, designs and models;
• Objects of photographic art and others, obtained in a similar manner to photography;
• Various geological, geographical and other maps, sketches, plans, plastic works related to topography, geography and other sciences.

The concept of copyright extends to various programs created for computers. But, unlike other objects, the rights to them can be formalized in the federal executive body, working with objects of intellectual property. Registration is not mandatory and is carried out at the request of the owner.

Also, copyrights are protected by translations and other derivative works of already existing objects.

For example, the author wrote a novel, and the director made a film based on his story, in which case the director is the owner of the copyright for the adaptation of the novel, as a derivative work.

Similarly, an interpreter, creating a work in a language other than the original, has the copyright to his own translation. The translation itself, as well as the original, is an independent object.

Copyright has not only the whole work, but also its part, name, character, if their character can be recognized as the result of the independent creative work of its creator.

For example, the character Harry Potter, as well as part of the title of the book have copyright, owned by JK. Rowling along with the rights to the text of the work.

The objects of copyright are not:

• Official documents of local self-government bodies, as well as various state ones, including laws, other normative acts, administrative, legislative and judicial materials, judicial decisions, official documents of various international organizations and their official translations;
• Signs and symbols belonging to the state (emblems, flags, banknotes, orders, etc.), as well as signs and symbols of municipal institutions;
• Folklore (works of folk art), which does not have specific authors, for example, music without copyright is folk songs;
• Informational reports on facts and events (TV programs, news of the day, timetables for various vehicles, etc.).

It should be noted that copyright has no concept, ideas, methods, principles, systems, processes, options for solving organizational, technical and other problems, facts, discoveries, programming languages.

Copyright mark

The sign "copyright protection" is as follows - ©.

This is the Latin letter C (from the word "copyright", meaning "copyright"), placed in the middle of the circle. Along with this designation, the sign (c) is used, the letter C in parentheses.

This indication of copyright is used next to the name of the legal or natural person to whom the authorship rights belong. Also this sign can be designated as an object of protection, the date range or year of its publication is indicated.

The sign "copyright protection" in itself does not create additional rights. It only shows that the rights to an object belong to the specified legal or physical person.

The absence of this sign does not mean that this work is not protected, since rights arise independently because of the fact of creating a work. In order to be covered by copyright protection, registration or other formalities are not required.

Also, licensing is not affected by the presence or absence of such a mark.

Copyright protection

The emergence of them is directly related to the very fact of creating the object of law.

In the legislation of our country there is no special procedure for registering the authorship rights to a work, except for registering them for computer programs. The author, according to the law, is the one who created the object, and he has the following rights:

1) the exclusive right to the work itself;

2) authorship;

3) the right to a name;

4) the inviolability of the work;

5) on its promulgation.

Technical means designed to protect copyrights

There are special technical means designed to protect this type of rights. These include any technology, as well as technical devices and their components that control access to a particular work and limit or prevent actions not authorized by its author or other rightholder with respect to this object.

Copyright Information

It is considered any information identifying the work, the author or other rightholder, as well as the conditions for the use of the object of law, contained in the original or copy of the work, appears as a result of a broadcast or other means of bringing the work to the public, attached to it, as well as any Codes and numbers that contain such information.

The author also has proprietary rights to:

1) distribution;

2) reproduction;

3) translation;

4) imports;

5) processing;

6) public performance;

7) public display;

8) broadcasting;

9) communication by cable to the public.

Immediately after the creation of the work, the author must have proof that he possessed him on a certain date. In case of disputable situations, this will help a lot. Such evidence can be obtained through a special procedure called deposition. Its essence - the acceptance of the storage of a copy of the work, as well as fixing the date of its provision with the participation of a notary. After that, a certificate of deposit will be issued. With this procedure, you can document the presence of the author of an instance on a certain date. Such evidence is the most reliable defense in the issue of copyright.

Copyright infringement

Their violation may entail administrative, civil and even criminal liability. Often happens, that infringement of copyrights occurs on ignorance. Therefore, it is recommended to use the following formula to notify third parties about them: the "copyright protection" symbol + the name of the author (copyright holder) + the year of publication or its period. However, by law to notify about the right of authorship or use the proposed format is not necessary.